Longtime Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has paid tribute to legendary coach Jimmy Johnson, who wrapped up his over 60-year football career this week by announcing his retirement from Fox Sports’ broadcast team.
Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson Leave Their Feud Firmly in the Past
Jones penned a thoughtful letter to Johnson, shared on the Cowboys’ socials Tuesday morning.
From the time we were in college until the time we were holding up those Super Bowl trophies, I knew Jimmy Johnson could be anything he wanted to be, and he has. Some of the most exciting times in my life I shared with Jimmy, and I cherish them.
As one of the most gifted people I’ve ever been around, Jimmy has blazed a remarkable, unique trail that is now deeply embedded into football and broadcasting history.
Congratulations on your incredible career, Jimmy, and I wish you well in your fourth quarter, my friend. You will always be a winner!
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) March 4, 2025
Jones and Johnson fought their fair share of trench battles in the early 1960s as members of the University of Arkansas’s offensive and defensive lines, respectively, but it wasn’t until Johnson’s tenure as the Cowboys’ head coach that they really butted heads.
The pair went their separate ways after Arkansas won the National Championship in 1964. Jones undertook a number of entrepreneurial ventures before turning his sights to the NFL, and Johnson went on to coach at several college programs, including Miami, where he again took home a National Championship, this time as a head coach.
They reunited in 1989 when Jones bought the Cowboys and made his former college teammate his inaugural head coaching hire. America’s Team went on to win back-to-back Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993, before, according to The Sporting News, Jones’s desire to control coaching decisions led to the termination of Johnson’s contract in 1993.
The feud came to a public close in 2023 when, in a long-overdue ceremony, Johnson became the 24th person inducted into the famed Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
Now, with Jones adding to the steady stream of touching tributes to Johnson’s legendary career, Cowboys fans old and new can take comfort in the fact that their most successful owner/coach tandem has healed old wounds.
All that’s left is for Jones to find the same success going forward with brand new head coach Brian Schottenheimer — the Cowboys’ eighth head coach since Johnson’s departure — at the helm.